Businessman Robert Hardy has announced he plans to run for Pascagoula mayor.

PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Pascagoula native and businessman Robert Hardy has that he plans to make a bid for the Pascagoula mayor's office.

Current Mayor Robbie Maxwell, who ran unopposed in 2008, said earlier this month that he would not seek a second term in the 2013 municipal elections.

City Councilman Frank Corder has previously announced his intentions to run for mayor.

Hardy graduated from Pascagoula High School, Mississippi State University with a bachelor's degree in accounting and economics and Mississippi College with a master's degree in business administration. He also completed AT&T's executive program at MIT.

He served 4 years as an officer in the U.S. Navy's underwater intelligence program and stayed with the Navy Reserves for 22 more years, retiring as a full commander with 26 years of service.

Hardy had a 21-year career with BellSouth and AT&T, where he served for 6 years as director of forecasting and budgets at a time when annual revenues were $1.2 billion, he said.

After retiring, he directed the start-up of a computer service company in Indianapolis and served as president and CEO for 6 years before returning to Pascagoula in 1991.

Then, he set up a consulting company and directed high-tech company turnarounds for 11 years, before shifting the focus of his business to telecom expense reduction in 2002.

Hardy said he began researching the idea of running for the mayoral post about two months ago, after several people asked him to run.

"I started looking at census data, the population and the city's budget," he said. "The more I looked, the more concerned I became."

With 25 percent of the population under age 18 and another nearly 23 percent below the poverty line, he said, it became evident that a too small group of residents are carrying the tax load.

"We have a serious issue with taxes," he said, which means the city and school district should be cutting back as much as possible to help alleviate some of the residents' tax burden.

Rather than "gold-plating Pascagoula, the county and the school system," he said, belts should be tightening.

"Sometimes you just have to say no," he said.

As mayor, Hardy said he would also be interested in tackling certain public health issues.

"I do feel that we have issues regarding the volume of chemicals being discharged in the air and water," he said. "If elected mayor, I would hope to sit down with the leading industries to see if we could convince them to develop a program to reduce the volume of discharges over a reasonable period of time."

Hardy said he realizes that Pascagoula's industries are "the envy of virtually every other city in Mississippi" because of the economic base and the value they provide here at home and across the nation.

"I want people to know that I do recognize that they're an economic engine that allows the median income in Pascagoula to run at about $46,000 a year, which is well above the average," he said. "I just don't think you can turn a blind eye to environmental issues."

Hardy said he would also like to see a spotlight shining back on the high cost of home insurance.

"City Hall should be representing the electorate and going to the legislature to say, 'Do something about it,'" he said. "The only way to get anything done is for the mayors across the coast to put the hammer on the state insurance commission."

For more information about Hardy and his campaign, visit www.hardyformayor.org.